Artists' Conversation with Torkwase Dyson and Rich Blint

Monday, March 20, 2017 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

With their project and resulting exhibition-"In Conditions of Fresh Water"-artist Torkwase Dyson and attorney/environmental scientist Danielle Purifoy explore environmental racism based on their collaborative documentary research with citizens in two North Carolina and Alabama counties.

Black towns and communities in Alamance (NC) and Lowndes (AL) Counties date back to the post-Civil War era, when free blacks across the South and beyond established places of their own to distance themselves from white terrorism and to build their own economic, social, and political institutions. The land on which they settled was often undesirable to white property interests. Many of these communities still lack access to viable wastewater infrastructure, threatening residents' health, local water quality, and capacity for future economic development. Grassroots activists in both counties continue fighting to attain these basic services in the 21st century.

On March 20, Torkwase Dyson will be joined by scholar and curator Rich Blint for an artists' talk surrounding the exhibit.